Signature strengths

Every restaurant has its signature dishes. These are unique food offerings patrons rave about in their social media sites – complete with the pictures! Signature dishes bring in the big bucks and build the business up.

This is true in the case of the restaurant my son Bryan and his partner Shinji have put up. People go there and rave about their signature dishes; in turn, many more come and try those dishes. What started as a 25-square-meter Japanese hole-in-a-wall in Teacher’s Village one and a half years ago will become four full-sized restaurants by the end of this year! And they just keep on growing! Not a single cent was spent on traditional advertising, but when you look at their social media sites, the name “Crazy Katsu” keeps on buzzing.

As I thought about all this, I came up with this realization: that there’s a connection between restaurants and leadership.

While every restaurant has their signature dishes, each also has their weaknesses, which I’m sure they’re trying their best to correct and improve on. This is also true for leaders.

Think of the bosses you’ve had. You may wonder how some of them ever became a boss with their glaring weaknesses. I’ve heard people say, “How can my boss be a good leader when he has so many weaknesses?” Or even, “How can he be a leader and teach leadership, when I see so many faults in him (or her)?” But even the worst has one or two signature strengths. These may be what propelled them to the top.

Successful leaders are like any successful performer: they build on their strength, not on their weakness.

I wrote the book Being The Best You can Ever Be which has sold a lot of copies. People who have read it tell me they found it effective. Being the Best You Can Ever Be may sound like a cliché, but clichés still exist today because they’re true. Being The Best You Can Ever Be means focusing on one’s signature strengths.

Even the greatest leaders have their weaknesses. But all leaders have their signature strengths. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t have stood out in the crowd and risen to the top, would they?

Rather than spending time criticizing the leader’s faults and weaknesses, why not focus your energy in building your strengths? But don’t if that core strength is finding faults!

Complainers can never be leaders. They’re too busy finding faults in others. But there are “good-finders” in the work place who focus on their boss’s strengths, learn from and emulate those rather than on the boss’s weaknesses, while further developing and enhancing their unique strengths. These are candidates for future career success.

Stop criticizing, complaining and whining about your boss’s weaknesses, and start working on your own strengths. Then, maybe, you too can rise up in the food chain and enjoy the benefit of other people criticizing you! J Because, remember, when you’re being kicked from behind, it simply means you’re in front of the pack.

Honor your masters even if they’re harsh, that’s what the Bible says. And the Bible is never wrong! Who knows, maybe you too will have your own restaurant chain one day.

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